


Swimming In The Moonlight

by FalCatrecon



Series: Merwatch [1]
Category: Baywatch (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:21:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22604650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FalCatrecon/pseuds/FalCatrecon
Summary: @hoffbingo, square inhuman appendagesA sort of Mermaid AU----------“Hey, want to go scuba at the reef with me today?” Mitch leaned into Craig’s field of view.He blinked a moment, having been lost in thought over his newest case. “Oh, uh. Sorry. I have a court meeting this afternoon. Raincheck?”Mitch sighed, shoulders slumping a little. “Well, I guess I’ll go alone then. Try not to work yourself too hard.” He patted Craig’s shoulder and walked back off to his office.Craig watched him go, mentally pushing the case aside. He still had a couple more hours of work yet, he had just come back to base for a small break. Mitch’s remark had hit him a little harder than he thought it would. It had been awhile since they properly hung out together that hadn’t been as lifeguards. He still had to go to the court meeting since it was work, but he really needed to crack down on actually having some free time again. Sure he had started to balance out work, lifeguarding, and home, but there still needed to be a little bit of time for friends and fun.
Relationships: Eddie Kramer/Shauni McClain, Mitch Buchannon/Craig Pomeroy/Gina Pomeroy
Series: Merwatch [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1626523
Comments: 6
Kudos: 9
Collections: The Hoff Bingo





	1. Secret

“Hey, want to go scuba at the reef with me today?” Mitch leaned into Craig’s field of view. 

He blinked a moment, having been lost in thought over his newest case. “Oh, uh. Sorry. I have a court meeting this afternoon. Raincheck?”

Mitch sighed, shoulders slumping a little. “Well, I guess I’ll go alone then. Try not to work yourself too hard.” He patted Craig’s shoulder and walked back off to his office.

Craig watched him go, mentally pushing the case aside. He still had a couple more hours of work yet, he had just come back to base for a small break. Mitch’s remark had hit him a little harder than he thought it would. It had been awhile since they properly hung out together that hadn’t been as lifeguards. He still had to go to the court meeting since it was work, but he really needed to crack down on actually having some free time again. Sure he had started to balance out work, lifeguarding, and home, but there still needed to be a little bit of time for friends and fun. 

He sighed and headed out to his tower and back on duty. Mitch was his best friend and had been for what felt like ever. Before it had been easier to hang out, they had both been on the same level and could get assigned to the same tower. Now Mitch was Lieutenant and they didn’t see each other nearly as often. Honestly if he thought about it, not nearly often enough. He hadn’t fully realized it, but he was starting to miss the big guy.

\------

It was a stroke of luck his client had canceled the court appointment. It did mean a pile of paperwork later to make up for it, but right now it also meant he could go on that scuba trip. He tried to catch Mitch at his place, but Hobie said he had already headed out, and confirmed the reef as where he said he was going. Craig knew enough people it wasn’t hard to find a boat to borrow and head out that direction himself. 

He found Mitch’s boat at the right place, anchored already. Something was off though, but he wasn’t quite sure what. He made sure his own boat was anchored in place and eyed the boat a bit harder. And there it was, Mitch’s gear was still in the boat with no Mitch in sight. He’d also taken far long enough that Mitch should have surfaced by now without his equipment. He took a deep breath to try and calm the panic that was beginning, before executing a beautiful dive to see if he couldn’t find Mitch.

Something massive and red quickly disappeared behind part of the reef as his entrance to the water. It surprised him enough he had to take a moment for air, then dove again, curious now. Mitch was still a worry, but depending on what the huge thing was, that may be the greater danger and why Mitch wasn’t in his boat. He worked his way around the edge of the reef and finally saw what the red had been.

He half swallowed water in surprise before he could properly process what he saw, and began to struggle upward. Air was a bit more important than weird tricks of the mind. He felt arms surround him and was rushed to the surface, faster than any person could swim. He ignored that fact for hacking up the water, gratefully sucking down air. He was propped up on the edge of the boat, allowing him a moment.

“Hey man, you okay?” A hand rubbed at his back, and Craig turned to look. Yup, it was Mitch. And, he looked down, yeah, those were fins. He rested his head on the boat, pretty sure he was still seeing things. “Come on, at least say something.” Mitch let out some nervous laughter.

Craig took another deep breath. It was still Mitch, whatever the hell he was seeing. Maybe it was some costume thing. Except he’d been down there far far too long. He turned to look again at his best friend. Closer scrutiny showed gills, _gills_ , along his neck. Also looked like it made Mitch embarrassed. He reached out to poke at them.

That earned him an eyeroll and his hand pushed away. “Yeah yeah, weird I know.” He frowned and looked searchingly at Craig. “You’re not freaking out nearly as much as I thought you would.”

“Those real? Really real?” Craig pointed at Mitch’s lower half. 

“Yup.” Mitch nodded and hefted himself up onto the edge of the boat, bringing his tail closer to Craig’s face. It was red, white and black. He touched curiously, and found he felt rather much like a mix of a fish and a dolphin. It was odd.

Then the pattern of fins and coloring properly registered and he couldn’t help his laugh. “Clownfish?”

Mitch heaved a sigh and shoved at Craig, though was grinning in relief. “Some friend you are. No ‘wow you’re a merman’ or anything, no. Just laughing at my body.”

“Look. I just found out someone I knew for a very long time had a big secret.” He elbowed Mitch’s hip to tease, again feeling the strangeness of his scales. “Not that I don’t understand.” He gestured vaguely at him. “I’m probably still in shock.”

Reaching out, Mitch rested a hand on his forehead, then his neck. “Nah, you’re about the right temperature and don’t seem to be shaking.” Craig could see the grin easily on his friend’s face. “I think you’re just an asshole.”

Craig laughed and climbed into the boat to sit next to Mitch properly. “How the hell have you kept this a secret for so long?”

Shrugging, Mitch reached behind them for the bathing shorts on the deck. “I can change shape obviously.” He pushed at Craig’s shoulder. “Look over that way for a moment, will you?”

Craig turned himself to look out over at the borrowed boat. This was the last thing he ever thought he’d be doing, or even finding out about Mitch. Maybe he really was still in shock. “So what, when you scuba by yourself you’re actually out here like that?”

“Yeah pretty much.” Craig could hear some shuffling around as presumably Mitch changed back. “You can look now.”

He turned back around and saw Mitch as he always did, his swim shorts firmly in place. He still took a moment to poke at his leg in roughly the same spot. Regular skin, a little hairy. Human. “Weird.” He dropped his hand and shrugged. “Well, you’ll save on wear and tear on your gear now that I know.”

“Hey, uh.” Mitch lightly coughed. “Not I probably need to say, but please don’t tell anyone. Not even Gina.”

Craig couldn’t help his laughter and he fell back against the decking to look up at the sky. “You know how much she likes mermaids. She’d _love_ you. Might lose her to your fishy charms. The only problem would be the water.” He waved off the obvious concern on Mitch’s face. “No no, I won’t tell, promise. I’m sure Gina wouldn’t either but I do kinda want to keep my best friend around, not in some government facility or whatever.” He did normally tell Gina everything, and he was pretty sure she’d notice something was off. He sucked at keeping secrets, especially from her. “It won’t be easy. She _knows_ things.”

Mitch grimaced, knowing those two all too well. “You’re right.” He took a long slow sigh. “I guess if she figures it out, but I’m not sure she’d believe you.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’d be easier if you succeed at not telling her, but if it comes down to it I guess I could show her.”

“I’ll try my best.” Craig half saluted from where he was laying, still trying to actually figure himself out. Mitch was Mitch, whatever he was physically. That wasn’t the problem. It was more that there was now a massive part of the universe he thought was made up that could very well be real. Was anyone else hiding those types of secrets? Wait. “What about Hobie?”

Mitch shook his head. “Only the ex knows anything, and that’s only because I was worried Hobie would come out with fins. He’s as normal as we can tell and I want to keep it that way.” He gave Craig a pointed look. “Maybe later I’ll tell him but right now I don’t want to add that on top of other kids and that sort of child drama.”

Craig nodded. “Kids do tend to talk a lot.” He patted at Mitch’s side where he could reach. “Sorry about having to stay hidden, but at least there’s someone you can talk to now.” Another thought occurred to him and he pointed out towards the ocean. “How many are there?”

“According to my parents, there’s a couple of tribes in deeper waters. We’re… unique.” He tapped his legs. “Something about a genetic witch’s curse or something. It was enough generations ago we’re not sure, but it seems to only be our family line that can be human. I’ve never met another merperson myself.”

Craig sat up again and wrapped an arm around Mitch’s shoulder in a partial hug. “I might not be what you are, but you’re not alone anymore.”

The bright smile he earned from Mitch was well worth keeping the secret. “Thanks.”

\----------

Eddie waited nervously at the marina. Mitch had heavily suggested they go for a scuba dive, and for him ‘not to forget his belt’. For most, that would be a weighted belt to help mitigate the natural tendency for a human to float, and Eddie would normally have assumed that’s what he had meant if Mitch hadn’t found a different one the day before.

Honestly it was his fault. While he had finally started to crash at Craig and Gina’s, he was still a bit unsure about leaving the truly important things there. He had accidentally caused a small avalanche of things in front of Mitch when he was pulling out a towel, and Mitch had immediately gone to help pick things up.

Eddie was nearly certain he was going to grab the belt, which wasn’t so bad, but if it wandered off… but Mitch has stopped when he saw it, eyes wide in surprise. He pointed at it and told Eddie that he should pick it up, and to be a hell of a lot more careful with it. That Craig could be trusted and he should probably leave it at home.

The thing was about the belt, it was what helped him be a mershark of sorts. Not quite a selkie, and he didn’t think a mermaid from the stories. Sort of a were-being that happened to be half shark. He knew he was unusual, but with his parents dead at a really young age he had no family to properly explain any of it to him.

What made Mitch’s response to it so weird was, it was obvious he knew it wasn’t a normal belt but didn’t know it’s rules. He had treated it like you would a selkie pelt if you didn’t want to control them. Eddie knew his belt didn’t work that way, having had plenty of foster family members try to steal it over the years. It meant however, Mitch knew something was up even if he didn’t know exactly what he was.

Then again it wasn’t like Mitch asked him out here in a bad way, and he could have said no. At least, he thought he could have. Probably just wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to do anything bad on his beach. He was honestly more worried he’d kick him off lifeguarding when he found out he was a shark. There wasn’t many things he was good at, but swimming was one of them.

Mitch grinned as he walked up, hefting the scuba gear into the boat. “Got to look like it’s what we’re doing.” He looked back at Eddie curiously. “Hey, you okay?”

Eddie gave him a solid look of confusion. “You invited me to ‘scuba’.” He finger quoted the word. “You know a hell of a lot more than I do.”

Mitch raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You’re the more dangerous of us I’d wager.” He gestured for Eddie to hop onto the boat after him. “I thought sharks had great senses of smell.”

Eddie rolled his eyes and clambered on after. “In the water. Also, you know, _human_.”

Mitch heaved an exasperated sigh. “You don’t have to pretend.”

“I know that, I mean I’m human right now.” He rubbed nervously at his arm as he settled into the boat, letting Mitch pull out and pilot it wherever he had planned. “Have you tried smelling anything over the salt and sand?”

“Point taken.” Mitch eased the boat out into open water, opening it up a bit. He wanted to get far enough away from the beach that the people wouldn’t see anything weird, or happen upon them by accident. “What are you exactly anyway?”

“Foster kid mostly. Or half dusky shark if that’s what you meant.” Eddie shrugged. “Other than that I have no idea.” He watched the water rush by for a moment in thought. “Why haul me out here?”

“Guess I did kind of rush you out here with no explanation.” Mitch laughed and leaned on the steering wheel as he let off the throttle. They were pretty far out in a non fishing area. “I don’t have someone to really _swim_ with. Figured you didn’t either.”

“Oh.” Eddie sat up a bit straighter, losing some of his nervousness. “I thought maybe you wanted to fire me or something.”

“Why would I do something like that?” Michael flipped the latch for the anchor, letting it drop. “You and Shauni are my most promising new lifeguards!”

“Is that why you assigned us to the same tower?” Eddie stood up, but waited for Mitch to do whatever he was going to do first.

Laughing, Mitch shucked his shirt aside. “ Nah, you two were at each other’s throats. I had to do something.” He took a dive off the side. His shorts hit the deck with a wet smack as he called from the water. “Come on and swim already.” Mitch dove again, and Eddie finally caught sight of him properly. Red, black and white banded down his tail in a wide rounded pattern. Clownfish mermaid?

He couldn’t help his laugh as he stripped, putting on his belt and diving to join. The change started as he hit the water, legs smoothing out into grey skin, fingers growing webbing. He took a deep lungful of water, his gills filtering properly. Man had he missed this.

Red flashed by again as Mitch circled him. The words were oddly echoey but Eddie could still figure them out. “Wow, lookin’ good man.”

“Thanks.” Eddie found he could talk too, which he had never really tried before. No one to talk to in the first place. He watched Mitch circle again. “You really doubled down on the lifeguard colors there.”

Mitch rolled his eyes with a grin and stopped in front of Eddie. “Yeah yeah, can’t help how I was born. Fitting though it may be.” He swam to the bottom of the boat and tapped something. 

Eddie winced as a low noise cut through the water at slow intervals. “What’s that for?”

“So we can find the boat.” Mitch gestured to the expanse of blue green stretching out in all directions. “You see any landmarks?”

Eddie crossed his arms in answer. It was a good reason since they wouldn’t have a dive line to the ocean floor. “Where to?” His fins twitched in anticipation. It had been a long time since he had done this, and never with someone else.

Mitch glanced at the boat above them for bearings, then pointed out to the ocean port side. “There’s a buoy a couple of miles in that direction. Race you to it?”

Eddie grinned wide, making Mitch blanch a bit at his teeth. He took off, tail whipping side to side. The water rushing by was amazing.

He could hear a whoop of excitement as Mitch was quick in pursuit. Eddie gave a quick glance back, easily spotting the bright red as he was slowly gaining. He tried to throw on a burst of speed, but man had he not exercised these muscles in awhile. The buoy was coming up quick, a dull iron red, and even for his head start Mitch was able to smack the side of the metal a few seconds before him.

“Damn.” Eddie breathed heavy, trying to catch his breath. “You’re fast.” Watching Mitch, he realized his tail worked more like a dolphin’s. He was also a lot more human from the waist up while Eddie himself had an extra smattering of fins plus his teeth. “What are you anyway? I don’t know much about…” He waved his hand expansively. “Uh, all of it.”

Mitch shrugged in reply. “I’m nearly as clueless about all of it. You’re the first fish-like person I’ve seen aside from my mom. I’m a merman though, if it helps.”

Eddie began to swim idly towards the soft ping in the distance. “Not really. We’re different enough I’m pretty sure I’m not what you are.”

Mitch laughed. “Who knows. Maybe your belt is some sort of curse thing too, I don’t know.” He flipped over so he was swimming beneath Eddie while watching the sky through the waves. “I shouldn’t be able to become human, so we might not be as different as you think.”

“Huh.” Eddie swam quietly in thought. It was kind of nice to finally have someone he could talk to about this stuff, but it sounded like neither of them had answers the other might have wanted from it. While Mitch might be patterned like a clownfish, there were far too many similarities to dolphins or whales. A water mammal certainly, while Eddie was definitely a shark in structure. Even down to, well, he couldn’t help the glance with the way Mitch was swimming. That probably followed water mammal structure too. He suddenly felt a bit self-conscious over the more obvious shark features of his own, though tried his best to keep his embarrassment to a minimum. It wasn’t like sharks covered themselves and Mitch hadn’t said a thing so it was fine. Probably.

Either way they were very very different, though the whole curse thing made an odd bit of sense. He never encountered magic himself but it was obvious it existed. Shape shifting in any form to their extreme was in no way natural, but it echoed through so many stories, folklore, and mythology. 

A merman was as good a label as any, he supposed.


	2. Little Lies

Craig stepped into his apartment after work the next day, mind still on their talk. They ended up scuba diving that night, though Craig was pretty sure he watched Mitch far more than the reef. He was still unsure if maybe he’d gotten into some sort of poisonous cloud or eaten bad food, but Mitch certainly seemed real enough.

He rubbed at his face. Damn, he forgot to be mad at him for hiding such a thing. At least, he was supposed to as a friend. Considering how unbelievable and unique he was, it was probably a good thing Mitch managed to keep that secret this long. He wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t want his friend in some government facility. He had tried his best not to act any different for Mitch’s sake, though he might have run off to his tower a bit faster than normal. It was still amazing something like a merman could exist, and that it was Mitch.

“Welcome home!” Gina called from the loft.

Craig hiked up the stair to lightly kiss her hair and see what sort of painting she was working on. It looked like she had just started, so he decided not to make a comment. Too many positive comments too soon sometimes had her thinking he was just complementing to be nice and not actually because he liked it. To be honest, he was already digging the color choices for the base.

She looked at him quizzically. “You okay?”

“Yes?” He was fairly certain he hadn’t been acting oddly. Heck, he’d been trying his best not to be. ...Maybe that was the problem.

Rolling her eyes, Gina nudged his shoulder. “You’ve been a bit spacy since yesterday after the swim. I assumed then you were just tired, but today…” She shrugged. “Just want to make sure.”

“Yeah, no. I’m fine!” He tried his best to laugh it off and headed down the stair towards the kitchen. “I’m guessing leftovers for tonight?”

She trailed after him. “Yup, I made plenty yesterday so I figured I could get some art done instead.”

They made plates and heated them up. Dinner was uneventful for the most part, both offering small chit chat about their day. As they were cleaning up the dishes though, Gina decided to ask again. “Are you _sure_ you’re okay? Did something happen between you and Mitch?”

“No!” It was louder than he meant, so Craig coughed and brought his tone down. “I promise you, there’s nothing.”

That brought out the sceptical eyebrow. She patted his chest. “If you have a crush on him I promise I won’t be mad.”

“ _What_!” That stopped Craig in his tracks, derailing his thoughts. Gina’s teasing smirk showed she had been joking, but he had been concentrating so hard on not giving up that he had a secret her words blind-sided him. “No, nothing like that.”

“But there’s something then.” Gina laughed at his surprise as she worked her way through the dishes. “You know I’m a good sounding board for that stuff.”

He heaved a sigh. “Look, he kind of told me a secret and I’m not supposed to spread it around. It’s, uh... personal.” He took the dishes she rinsed and put them in the dishwasher. “Promise.” He couldn’t help the odd fidget though. Honestly how the hell would he ever explain that Mitch was a merman if she pressed. This was going to drive him nuts. If it was a crush thing it would somehow be easier.

Her laughter faded and her eyes narrowed a little in that contemplation look that always worried him. “Uh-huh.” She handed him the last of the dishes. “If _he_ has a crush on you, I’m not mad either.”

This time Craig gave the appropriate long-suffering sigh at her tease, seeing the beginning of a grin on her lips. “You wish.”

She pretended to think hard on it. “I mean, he _does_ have a nice chest.” The words were followed by laughter as he fake-slapped her arm in retaliation, shooing her back towards her loft and art. He watched her a moment as her giggles died out and she refocused on the painting. She was beautiful and somehow able to deal with the mess that was him. He couldn’t help the soft sigh as he turned back to his office and his own stack of work.

Bedtime came soon enough, Gina coming to collect him from his work. It was a slog but distracting enough he hadn’t noticed the time. He ended up with her close in his arms when they laid down, comfortably resting and ready for sleep. And of course that meant Gina wanted to talk a bit. “I know you said it was personal, but you have seemed kind of bothered by it. You sure you can’t tell me anything?”

He sighed, ruffling her hair with his breath and tugging her closer. “It’s his secret to tell, you can ask him.”

“Okay.” There was a long enough pause Craig was starting to drift off, when she softly giggled. “If anything happens with you two, bring him home.”

“Gina!” He couldn’t help his own laugh as he moved, tickling her in retaliation. She laughed and rolled, trying to get away without actually getting up. She finally cried uncle, and he stole a kiss before sinking back into his spot. She snuggled back into place and they finally relaxed properly for bed.

\-----------

Eddie leaned on the railing of his tower, watching Shauni do a walk around. While they did argue a lot, he had to admit she was getting to be his best friend at this point. Heck, he couldn’t help but admit he was beginning to maybe love her. Which honestly the feeling was sudden and quick, but she was gorgeous. Not that he felt he could do anything. They were both from different economic backgrounds, plus the whole he was a shark thing. Pretty sure that would be a hard ‘no’ from her. He had to wonder how Mitch did it, considering he had a kid and all.

She gracefully walked her way back up the ramp, hooking the float on the tower as she headed into the little room. He followed out of curiosity. She had brought a bag with her and had been checking on it obsessively. It was honestly really weird. He couldn’t help a teasing grin as he walked up behind her, quickly snagging the bag. “What did you bring today?”

“No!” The reply was so sharp and sudden Eddie paused. She looked near desperate. He looked down and immediately dropped it, thankful he hadn’t reached in.

“I’m so sorry!” The soft brown fur was instantly recognizable to him, having swam enough times with the local seal population. Then his brain properly put the pieces together and he looked quickly back up at her. “...Selkie?”

Shauni quickly bundled up the bag and backed up. Eddie raised his hands and scooted over, out of the doorway. He wanted her to stay but wasn’t going to force it. She took a long, deep breath when she realized what he was doing, and relaxed just a little. “How do you know?”

Eddie tried a smile. “I’m not really human either, but since the whole no parents thing, I’m not exactly sure what I am. So I did research.” He shrugged slightly and pointed to his jacket behind her. “Mine is a belt and in my coat.”

She heaved a sigh and sunk against the wall of the tower. “You know, I was worried having to bring this here. We have cleaners in and I don’t need to be impromptu married to a random stranger.” She tried to offer her own tremulous smile. “I never had someone to talk about it with before.”

He took her sudden relaxing as acceptance to him being there and easily stepped into her space for his jacket and the belt therein. “Maybe you can answer what I am then.” He tugged it out and offered it for inspection. “Mine doesn’t have the whole marriage thing attached.”

She leaned forward to look over his belt, then immediately pushed back again in surprise. “What the hell! You’re a shark!” She bundled her bag close to her chest in fear and pushed past him, too fast to see the look of utter confusion and hurt cross his face. 

“Shauni!” He called after her, trying to get her to stop. She didn’t listen as she ran, and he couldn’t follow and abandon the tower. Watching her carefully and noting which direction she was headed, he picked up the phone to get ahold of Mitch.

\----------

Craig leaned on the desk in Mitch’s office. “I really suck at keeping secrets. She knows there’s something, but not what.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I got away with saying it was personal but she’s still curious.”

Mitch laughed and patted his arm. “If it makes you feel any better, I thought about it. If you really want to arrange a time we can tell her, I’ll let you.” He offered a smile. “I trust her as much as I trust you.”

Raising an eyebrow, Craig gave him an incredulous look. “Which was why you never told me.”

He heaved a long suffering sigh, though smiled at Craig’s teasing. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll never live it down. I’m sorry I’m a freak of nature and didn’t tell you.” Shuffling some paperwork around, he continued to talk. “Did you want to do another scuba trip soon?”

“Sounds like fun.” Craig couldn’t help but think of the way Mitch looked underwater, his scales reflecting the refracted sunlight. Which was weird because that wasn’t normally what popped into his head at scuba. “Tomorrow?”

Mitch looked up to answer, but the phone began to ring. “Yeah, sounds good.” It was distractedly said before he picked up the phone. “Mitch Buchannon, what can I do for you?”

“Mitch! Shauni ran off, I need backup so I can go after her!” Eddie frantically spoke into the phone.

“Slow down!” Mitch leaned forward, his expression immediately going serious. Craig gave him a curious look. “What happened?”

Eddie took a deep breath as Shauni left his sight line. “I told her.” Before Mitch could chide him, he continued. “I thought it would be okay because she’s a selkie. Mitch, she _recognized_ my belt.”

“Okay.” Mitch looked up at Craig, weighing his options. “Craig and I will come be your backup.” Eddie began to make a noise of protest about the same time Craig did. Mitch waved Craig off as he talked over both of them. “Don’t worry, he knows about me. You’ll be fine. Just do your job in the meantime, focus on that.”

“Hurry.” Eddie hung up, leaving Mitch to stare at the receiver. 

He sighed and looked up at the man he volunteered without asking. “Okay, quick rundown as we go.” He stood up and grabbed his jacket as they headed towards the garage. “Eddie is like me but not, and turns out Shauni is too. But something about whatever Eddie is had her run off. He’s going to try and find her while we watch the tower. I volunteered because I can trust you with this.”

“Um.” Craig followed, frowning slightly in mild confusion but less annoyed at being conscripted. He thought he followed generally what Mitch had said. Maybe. At least he knew Eddie and Shauni needed someone to trust right now, and he was willing to be there. “Anyone else I should know about?”

Mitch shook his head and shrugged. “Not that I know. Just learned about Shauni myself, so who knows.” He quickly jumped into the truck and flicked on the lights as Craig piled in. Thankfully, for Eddie’s sake, their tower wasn’t too far from base.


	3. Feelings

Eddie was waiting for them at the base of the ramp, nearly bouncing and ready to go. Mitch waved him on as they pulled up before he even stepped out. Eddie bolted as soon as he saw Mitch wave, heading in the direction Shauni had gone. He needed to talk to her, work whatever this was out. Something about his whole shark thing had freaked her out, even after he had told her he didn’t know what he was. 

He jogged along the beach towards the underside of the pier. He’d lost sight of her before that, but she hadn’t started to turn or anything, so likely had continued this way. Underneath was dark, as always, the chain link at least having been removed since that unfortunate attack with Craig. It was now a lot harder to get trapped here, even if it meant people took shelter here on occasion. He slowed a little, his body appreciating being out of the sun, and kept an eye out for Shauni. 

The small sniffle had him stop completely and look around, spying the red tucked up next to a support beam. He breathed a soft sigh in relief and walked over to her, though made sure not to get too close. Whatever it was, she had been genuinely frightened. “Shauni…?”

She started in surprise, wiping at her eyes. “Hey.” It was soft, a little tear-filled but also a touch apologetic. She didn’t meet his eyes, staring instead at her feet.

Eddie stepped closer, kneeling nearby. “Are you okay?”

Shauni huffed out a wet, embarrassed laugh. “Maybe.” She shrugged weakly and gestured to the sand next to her. Her next word was even softer. “...Sorry.”

Settling down in the spot she pointed at, he leaned forward to catch her eyes. “Are you sure?”

She reached out and lightly patted his shoulder before tucking her arm back to herself. “You’re you, not what I was scared of.” She shook her head. “I was… surprised.”

He couldn’t help the soft smile at her admittance. “Me too.”

Rolling her eyes, she relaxed a little more, uncurling from around her bag. “Back where we’re from, sharks aren’t…” She winced. “Well, let’s say I _used_ to have an aunt when I was really little.”

Eddie stared in shock. “I… Um.” He wanted to apologize, but it wasn’t like he was the one who did it, so he tried for a little levity. “I wanted to know what I was, but now I don’t want to meet them.”

She snorted slightly and leaned over, letting her head rest on his shoulder. “Yeah, it’s why we're in California now. Generally, there aren’t sharks out here.” She shrugged slightly. “Well, there’s one apparently.”

He leaned his head onto her’s, taking in the soft smell of her shampoo. He was grateful she forgave him. “I promise I won’t tell your parents if you don’t.”

That earned a sharp snort as her fingers intertwined with his. “Good idea.”

He squeezed her hand. “One thing though. Uh.” He coughed slightly. “Mitch knows.”

“What!” She sat up, dislodging him from where he rested, nearly pulling her hand away.

“Wait! He’s a mermaid. Merman.” Eddie shook his head. “Not like me though, more like a dolphin but kinda like a clownfish...” He realized he was starting to ramble, trying to calm her again. “He’s watching our tower. With Craig.”

She stopped and just stared at him in confusion for a moment. “Oh. Uh.” She relaxed again, quicker this time, as she thought about it. “Really, even without that I guess I would trust him. It is _Mitch_ after all.” She then glared at him, crossing her arms. “But you shouldn’t just tell people’s secrets!”

“Well I had to tell him something so he’d let me go look for you!” Eddie threw up his hands in exasperation and stood. “He found out about me by accident.” He let his arms drop with a grin and offered his hand. “It’s been fun having someone to swim with.”

Shauni gave out a long, exasperated sigh, but took his hand to pull herself up. “Yeah, I can see that.” The look turned considering as she stood up next to him. “Can a third join in?”

“I don’t see why not.” He reached out and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, tugging her close and leading her towards the open beach. “We probably should go back to work.”

\-----------

Mitch kept an eye on the direction Eddie went, while Craig actually did their job and scanned the water. He looked over occasionally at Mitch’s worried profile. The man had built himself a wonderful family out of the baywatch team, and cared about every one of them. It was amazing how big of a heart he had, and was something Craig had always admired. He reached out and patted his shoulder. “They’ll be fine. Sure it’s about… whatever they are, but they’ve been fast friends since you forced them to work together.”

“I know, I know.” Mitch turned back to Craig with a small smile. “They’re also both hotheads.”

Craig winced. “They are that.” He shrugged. “But so were we.”

That got Mitch to laugh. “You mean Cort and I were. You’ve always been our conscience.” He paused, thinking. “Well, unless we egged you on enough.”

“Powers of peer pressure.” He bumped his shoulder against Mitch’s. “You’re hard not to listen to. Natural born leader.”

Mitch shook his head and looked back over the sand. “Just because people listen doesn’t mean they should.” He twitched a smile back over to Craig. “It’s why I always liked you, you didn’t believe all my bullshit.”

Craig laughed in answer, scanning the water again. “I don’t know about that. I’m here aren’t I?”

“ _That’s_ just being a good friend.” Mitch perked up and pointed down the beach. “Hey, look who talked it over!”

Craig turned to watch Eddie and Shauni, arm in arm, make their way down the beach back towards the tower. Good, he was glad they had made up, and maybe he and Mitch could salvage the afternoon still.

Mitch greeted the two with a grin as they headed up the ramp. “You figure out everything?”

Shauni gave a worried glance at Craig before nodding nervously. “Yeah.”

“He knows about me.” Mitch patted Craig cheerfully before continuing. “Just be more careful you two. I know finding people like us is amazing but seriously, I don’t want to lose two of my best lifeguards to any weird conspiracy or anything.”

“I know. Also, don’t tell my parents, they wouldn’t understand.” Shauni ran a hand through her hair. “My family came out here to get away from others, and I want to keep being a lifeguard.”

That earned a bright smile from Mitch. “Good!” He patted her shoulder. “Then get to it.” He started his way down the ramp.

Craig heaved a sigh at Mitch’s abruptness. “To be up front, I’ve known about him for _maybe_ a week and with his rambling explanation getting here I’m still not sure what either of you are, but I promise I won’t say anything I _do_ know to anyone.” He met their eyes in turn. “Be safe.” He too turned and headed back to the truck, climbing in next to Mitch.

The truck rumbled to life and Mitch worked on spinning it around and heading back to base while Craig watched the two easily settle back into the tower. Mitch nudged him to get his attention. “Hey, did you want to move up that swim trip to tonight? I think we earned it.”

“Why not?” Craig shrugged with a grin. He’d have to call Gina when they got back in, but they hadn’t planned anything and she was still in the middle of her current painting. Chances were she wouldn’t have even noticed until he got home, but he’d rather tell her than weather her anger.

\---------

Craig finally got the last of his equipment on. Mitch could feel his fins twitching in anticipation and boredom. He hadn’t really realized how long it took to get scuba gear on until he didn’t have to wear any. Finally Craig hopped into the water, sinking towards the reef they normally visited. Mitch smiled wide as he swam around him, easily twisting through the water. Craig nearly ran into the reef, his eyes on him.

Mitch reached out and steadied him, looking curiously. “You okay?”

Craig, being in scuba gear, couldn’t answer verbally but gave him a thumbs up. Good. Mitch turned to the reef, trying to swim slowly. It wasn’t as easy as it sounded, finding that apparently scuba gear weighed him down a lot more than he thought. He had to come circle back every once in awhile having gotten too far ahead. It didn’t escape his notice just how much more Craig was looking at him than the reef. The staring would probably wear off after he got used to the whole mermaid thing.

It was a small thing, but Mitch couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed. Not that Craig had ever known, but he had a tiny crush on the man since they first met. Way back then, it had been all about the girls and he’d shoved it in a corner to be forgotten about. It only ever came back to mind when they somehow managed to both be single at the same time, but that was so rare and Craig so insistent on dating that Mitch had just let it lie. Then they each had found Gayle and Gina respectively, and Mitch had been happy. He had honestly and truly loved Gayle, still did.

But now he was single again, and Craig was actually _admiring_ him, even if it was only because he had literally sprouted fins. He also cared about Gina greatly and would never do such a thing to her. She was the next closest thing to a best friend that wasn’t Craig. Or Cort, but he was never sure how to classify him, not really.

A tap of rocks together pulled him from his jumbled thoughts, and he bundled the feelings down again and turned to Craig. He pointed to an opening that wasn’t there last time they visited. One of the micro-quakes must have opened a cave. Mitch swam closer as Craig began to inspect the opening. It was big enough for the equipment to fit with a little bit of clearance. He gestured for Mitch to follow and headed in. Mitch carefully followed, suddenly wishing he knew a way to still wear his wetsuit. Coral was sharp and he wasn’t wearing anything.

There was a low rumble that made Mitch stop and listen, though Craig didn’t seem to hear anything. Something was shifting in the walls, so he reached out and grabbed Craig’s ankle, arresting his movement forward. The noise happened again and Craig must have finally heard it as he tried to back up and out. Even with Mitch cooperating, they still weren’t quite fast enough. The rocks worked loose at their passage, a few tumbling past them, catching on skin and tubing. Mitch pulled faster when he saw the sudden large mass of bubbles escape from Craig’s equipment. The man had scrambled, but only for a split second, relaxing and letting Mitch do his thing. Another pile of rocks fell, scraping along Mitch’s shoulders and arms. He turned to look at Craig as he pulled him free from the collapse just in time.

His eyes weren’t open, air barely leaking out of the mouthpiece he still had. Mitch bundled him close, ignoring the sting from his own cuts and swam hard and fast to the surface. There was no way in hell he was losing his best friend to some rocks, not in his domain.


	4. Save Me

Craig had honestly thought the cave was safe until Mitch had stopped him. The scuba gear made it harder to hear, apparently. That, and there was a good chance mermen could hear pretty well under water. He had tried to back out, carefully not to jar anything, but it was to no avail. The rocks were shifting too fast, fast enough to let Mitch just grab him and pull him along.

The sudden collapse was a surprise, and he could hear the tearing of tubing as his breath was stolen from him. He tried to keep calm, but another rock bounced down off his tank and right across his temple.

Consciousness was spotty as he was pulled along, quick peeks of empty water, bare skin, warm arms. There was no air to breath, even when he felt it on his skin. His mind wasn’t working, body barely responding.

He felt soft warmth against his mouth, part of his brain helpfully supplying Mitch’s lips as the answer before air was pushed into his lungs. The pressure on his chest was almost too much as Mitch did the proper compressions, trying to help with the water in his lungs. Finally he coughed, his body connecting with his brain. Mitch helped him roll over, hand soft on his back. There was still a lot of panic and fuzziness, but a small unhelpful part of his mind suggested maybe this was why their rescues fell in love with them so often.

Mitch certainly was the man of the hour, lightly rubbing circles into Craig’s back as he took deep lungfuls of air. “Glad to see you alive.” Craig wasn’t so far gone to not notice the stark relief in Mitch’s voice. He had rescued many people with him, and he never sounded so happy as he did. To be fair he was sure he’d sound just as desperate to have Mitch back too.

He carefully sat up, his breathing finally getting back to normal. The hand didn’t move from his back, settling easily on his shoulder. 

Looking up at Mitch to reassure him that he was fine, Gina’s teasing echoed in his head. It set him into a coughing fit again, and he could feel himself redden a little. She always knew what he wanted, sometimes even before he realized it himself. At the very least she had suggested the idea. He reached out to pat Mitch’s arm to try and not make him worry while re-catching his breath and think a moment.

He was trying not to think about how much he liked the feel of Mitch. It wasn’t like the man hadn’t touched him before, or even hugged. Heck, he’d played ‘victim’ enough times in training he would have thought he’d have been used to all that. But today for some reason, it all aligned differently. How would he have felt if it had been Mitch and not him? He was already a little worried now that he noticed the cuts and bruises on him, if he had been the one in danger… Oh hell.

“Gonna blame this on the oxygen loss.” He wasn’t sure how to say any of it aloud, so he just leaned forward and stole a kiss. Soft and sweet, It lasted a little longer than he had planned. When he pulled back Mitch followed for a second, eyes half-lidded.

“Uh.” Mitch stared for a moment in surprise as Craig started to squirm slightly. He recovered and shifted from kneeling to cross-legged with a grin. “And what was that for?”

“A thank you?” Craig tried not to meet Mitch’s eyes, but quickly realized he was now human and hadn’t had time to put anything on. His eyes shot back up to Mitch’s face, who’s grin seemed to widen a bit. He grabbed a nearby towel and threw it at him. “Put some clothes on.”

Mitch laughed and draped the towel across his lap. “Thank you huh? Maybe I should save you more often. Not that I want you in trouble.” He shook his head slightly, realizing his teasing was making Craig uncomfortable. “Look, I know you have Gina. Don’t worry about it.”

Craig watched the playful grin fade, something akin to resignation cross Mitch’s face. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Confession time.” He rolled his eyes at himself. “With words this time. I’ve come to the realization that I may, in fact, care a great deal for you.” That earned him a raised eyebrow. “Okay, okay. That’s always been true. But…” For being a good lawyer, he was failing at this sort of speech. He threw up his hands in frustration. “I blame Gina.”

That definitely made a look of confusion cross Mitch’s face. “What.” Craig could tell a number of odd ideas were crossing Mitch’s mind, and he would bet none of them were right.

“She could tell I was keeping a secret, so she assumed things and said she wouldn’t be mad if you had a crush on me.” He shrugged sheepishly. “She was teasing, but it sort of pushed my mind in a direction I didn’t normally think.”

Mitch snorted in laughter. “Well, if it helps I do. I have for a long time.” Mitch waved the concerned look of Craig’s off. “We weren’t single long enough for it to matter, it’s fine.”

An idea came to Craig, and he realized it again came from Gina. “Well, she _did_ say if something happened to bring you home.” He lightly tapped Mitch’s knee. “And I’d say something happened.”

Mitch sighed, his smile soft rather than teasing. “Hey, whatever you’re comfortable with.” His eyes focused past Craig with an embarrassed twitch to his lips. “I do like Gina too.”

Taking a deep breath, Craig nodded sharply and smiled back. “Good. That settles it. We need to talk to Gina.”

\------------

Since Mitch had gone on an actual scuba trip with Craig, Eddie and Shauni decided to have their own trip together. Or that had been the initial idea anyway, but as they stood on the deck of the boat, alone, they both seemed to remember at the same time they had to undress to change.

Eddie immediately turned away, gesturing at the water. “Uh, ladies first.” He could feel his face flush red, glad he wasn’t facing her.

“Sure.” It took a couple of minutes, but soon he heard a splash. He turned to spy a seal waiting patiently in the water. He shucked his shirt, stopping at his shorts to stare expectantly at Shauni. She finally seemed to realize she was staring and ducked under water. He couldn’t help his laugh as he finished undressing, quickly throwing on his belt and diving in after her.

Shauni swam around him, inspecting. He watched her carefully, knowing his form might be unsettling, considering. She snuffled around, inspecting fins and tail, before nodding and lightly tapping her nose to his. He offered a soft smile, keeping his teeth as hidden as he could. “Glad you approve.”

Snorting softly, she swam downwards towards the ocean floor, looking back occasionally. He guessed that meant she couldn’t talk in this form, which was fine. Maybe later he’d tease her about finally being quiet, but in all honestly he did enjoy the sound of her voice. Eddie followed behind as she swam, letting her lead. While he was honored that she shared her secret with him, he was starting to find he missed her normal exuberance.

He reached out and lightly tapped her tail, which seemed to make her jump in surprise. “Hey, you okay?”

Shauni paused in her swimming, considering his question. She turned back to lightly brush her flipper against his tail fin, a question of her own in her eyes.

“Gonna have to guess, but yeah you can touch if that’s the question.” He offered out a hand. “Can I?”

Something seemed to brighten in her eyes and she bumped her head against his hand in answer. He ran his hands down her back, reveling in the softness of her fur even when she was under water. In turn she rubbed up against him almost like a giant cat. Her whiskers tickled as she brushed against his stomach, exploring him as much as he was her. She settled against his chest with a soft press before heading towards the surface. Right, she was still a mammal. Air was kind of important.

He followed her to the surface, watching her float in the fading sunlight. She was beautiful even now, and that was saying something. He couldn’t help a sigh, missing her chatter. It wouldn’t be fair to ask her to change back though, not if she was missing this form as much as he’d been missing his. He missed the way she looked too, but he figured that was only fair as well, considering she was likely not the most comfortable with his shark parts either. Her blue eyes persisted between her forms, and were now looking at him curiously. 

He twitched a grin and lightly rested his forehead on hers. “Hey, you enjoy yourself. You probably don’t get to do this that often.”

The soft fur changed into soft skin under his touch. “We have an indoor seawater pool for mom and I.”

“Of course you do.” Eddie looked up awkwardly, wanting very much to peek but not knowing if he was actually allowed to. Sure she changed in front of him but it could have been so she could talk.

Her hands lightly guided his face back down to hers. He could see her cheeks slightly pink in the fading light. “Hey, don’t make it more embarrassing than it is.”

“Er, sorry.” He met her eyes, though could see in his lower peripheral her soft curves. He could feel something stir that never really had as a shark before. The blush crept up his own cheeks as he tried to decide if changing to human himself would be worth it. It would be more obvious, but she was majoring in marine biology so it was likely she already _knew_. “Sorry.” He added again for good measure.

Laughing, Shauni tugged him forward for a quick kiss. “If I was that worried about it, I would have changed on the boat.” She kissed him again, harder this time, letting her fingers run up into his hair.

Eddie let himself sink into the kiss, his hands very carefully resting themselves on her sides. Oh did he want her, but he didn’t want to take this anywhere she didn’t. Besides, he knew his hands were finned and everything wasn’t quite human at the moment. It probably felt weird to her.

She sighed against his lips when he didn’t respond like she thought he would. “What, do you need an engraved invitation?”

“No… I just…” He vaguely waved at himself.

Her annoyance softened, realizing what he meant. She sunk under water and tugged him down after her. The nearby water filtered through his senses and there, he could almost taste it. She wanted him, very much. He immediately surfaced for her sake before pulling her close. Her fingers dug into his hair as she kissed him again. He let his hands finally roam, feeling her softness and give in the water.

Still though, he wouldn’t quite let her deepen the kiss. She huffed and pulled back a little, giving him a questioning look. “You okay?”

Eddie nodded sharply and started to move their embrace closer to the boat, refusing to let go now that he was allowed to touch freely. “Teeth aren’t tongue-friendly right now.”

“Ah.” She let herself be hauled along, instead putting her energy towards learning his curves in turn. He couldn’t suppress a shiver as her fingers ghosted at the edge of his gills. That wasn’t fair at all. He knew they weren’t really physically compatible in this shape, not that he had ever fully gotten off this way. He was pretty sure it was all shark though and that wouldn’t be fun on her end. But man, she was certainly teaching him new nerve endings he didn’t know he had.

\------------

The apartment loft seemed quiet when they first stepped in, but at the click of the door shutting, Gina peeked over the railing. “I thought I heard the door!” She hurried down the stair, her smile wide but a touch confused. “You’re early. Everything go okay?”

“Fine, everything was fine.” Craig glanced at Mitch who just shook his head slightly in exasperation at his tone. As always, he was a terrible liar when it came to Gina.

Gina slowly raised an eyebrow. “What did you do?” She looked past him at Mitch, her eyes widening in surprise. “Why are you covered in cuts?”

Both men stared back a second, as if they had forgotten the accident. Mitch looked down at his arms in apparent surprise. “Ah, there was a cave in, but that’s not why we came back.”

“Something other than _mortal peril_ had you come back. Just what is more important?” Gina walked over to Mitch, looking over the spots she could see. “Do you need bandages or anything?”

Mitch shook his head no at Gina’s fussing, offering a soft smile. “Craig has something though.”

“Don’t pile it all on me! It’s you too!” Craig managed to turn slightly pink as Gina turned around to face him. “I…uh. Is Eddie here?” 

“No, he and Shauni left for the evening.” There was a look of realization in her eyes, and she began to grin. “Something you needed Mitch here for too, huh? I _knew_ it.”

As she walked forward, lifting and wrapping herself in Craig’s arms, he gave a token protest. “You told me if something happened to bring him home.”

“I meant it too.” She reaches behind her where Mitch still stood awkwardly and snagged the edge of his shirt to pull him closer. “You said that wasn’t the secret, though it looks like I was right.”

Mitch laughed and stepped forward with the tug, sandwiching Gina between them. He let his arms wrap around both of them, glad to be so easily accepted by her. Craig twiched, though Mitch wasn’t sure if it was his touch or the mention of the secret again. “Nope, that wasn’t my secret. Craig here just figured that out today.”

“ _What_? I could have sworn he’d been half thinking about that for years.” Mitch laughed into her hair as she winked up at Craig. “Could have fooled me.”

Craig just sort of slumped in humored defeat. “I’m sorry I’m blind okay? Living in the status quo is so easy and you both know how hard change is for me.” He lightly kissed her forehead. “Which is why I have you, to point out the obvious.” He shifted his hold to reach out to Mitch as well, fingers brushing his side. “And you too, to drag me on adventures.”

Gina shifted in the middle of the hold, turning partly around to look up at Mitch. “Can I know that secret yet?”

“I did tell Craig I’d tell you…” Mitch worked his way out of their hug and glanced around the apartment. “I should be fine here I think. Maybe the bed?”

Gina’s eyebrows raised in curious interest. “The bed, huh?”

Tugging Gina close, Craig trapped her against himself with a grin. “If you think that would do. I’ll hold her until you call.”

Mitch grinned and nonchalantly shrugged as he turned towards their bedroom space, peeling off his shirt. “If we keep on this track, I don’t think I have _anything_ to hide. It’s up to you.”

Both Craig and Gina stilled, their fake struggle forgotten for a moment as they stared at Mitch’s back. She elbowed him in the stomach, stage whispering, “We should follow.”

Craig nodded rapidly, letting her go. She grabbed his hand as she followed Mitch, not that he wasn’t hurrying himself. It was going to be a complete surprise to her, but he knew what was coming. He had yet to see Mitch change, having looked away for supposed ‘decency’s sake’.

He nearly ran into Gina where she had stopped in the doorway. Mitch had decided to continue doing whatever he was doing whether or not they were there, and both he and Gina had a rather nice view of his ass as he tugged his underwear off. Gina spoke first, teasing. “I don’t see anything secret worthy yet.”

Mitch started slightly, then turned with a grin. “I thought you were keeping her back.”

Craig grinned back. “You said it was fine. Besides, I haven’t seen...” He gestured expansively at Mitch. “And I was curious.” He meant the change, but to be fair he hadn’t really and truly seen Mitch naked. Sure, they’d accidentally seen stuff being friends for as long as they had, but it hadn’t been something he’d paid full attention to before. He crowded Gina a little closer to Mitch. There was still the secret to show, but the fact he could now touch was fascinating. Gina looked like she agreed as her hands touched Mitch first, skating along his chest.

The grin softened as Craig’s hands joined Gina’s. He trailed his fingers up along his collarbone to behind his head, tugging him down and letting Gina steal the kiss first. It was hot watching them together, his wife and best friend, knowing they were both his. At least he hoped Mitch would stay.

Mitch broke the kiss and delicately grabbed both sets of hands. “While I love where this is going, kind of wanted to share the secret first.” His eyes flicked up to meet Craig’s, then back to Gina’s. “While I don’t think you’ll run for the hills or anything, I don’t want to freak you out.”

Gina watched, a little confused but curious as Mitch settled himself in the center of their king sized bed. Her gasp was soft as she leaned against Craig, both watching as the change began around his hips, flowing down along his legs. Each fin grew as the change reached their segment. While he would have never believed magic existed before now, the look flowed in a way not natural, quickly and simply. The way his tail fins draped over the end of the bed made Craig realize he was technically even taller now, which he hadn’t noticed when they were swimming before. The colors were somehow brighter outside the water, the lines more pronounced. He wanted to get closer but he needed to gauge Gina’s reaction first.

He lightly pushed against Gina’s back, who jumped a little in surprise. She looked up at Craig, then back to Mitch. She took a half step forward before pausing again, her eyes not leaving the tail. “...May I?”

Mitch had to laugh. “Come on.” He patted the bed next to him. “No need to be shy now.”

Her smile was still tentative as she settled onto the bed next to one hip. Craig walked around to perch himself at Mitch’s other hip. Her fingers nervously hovered above Mitch’s tail, unsure. Mitch reached out and pressed her hand down, letting it rest where his thigh would have been. She sucked in a breath, the smile solidifying. “Really real?”

“Really real.” Craig replied as he carefully lifted a pelvic fin to inspect it. It was soft skin, webbing between thin yet tough spines. Supporting that was a heavier muscle, reminiscent of a dolphin’s flipper. He ran his hands along the fin, following it back to Mitch’s hip. He looked over at Gina, who now managed to have both hands on Mitch halfway down his tail, fingers trying to touch everything on the way. He grinned up at Mitch. “Told you.”

Mitch smiled, reaching out to rest a hand on Craig’s arm. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Craig patted his hip. “You’ve always been my best friend, being a mermaid doesn’t change that.”

Gina snorted slightly in humor, her hands wandering back up to Mitch’s human chest. “Mer _man_.”

Craig lightly smacked her shoulder with a grin. “You planted the idea in my head, didn’t you?”

“Nope.” She grinned back. “I just assumed you already thought that. Can’t help you were mooning over him without knowing it.”

Mitch watched the verbal tennis match over him. He was thankful and amazed nothing really changed with his form. Well, their hands were still petting him through their teasing and that was new, though that could be more a result of their new relationship.

And wasn’t that a shock? He never would have thought they’d really all be together, not all three. It hadn’t really entered his mind before, and sounded like it hadn’t crossed Craig’s either. Gina however… He reached out to run a hand in her hair, distracting her from Craig. “Thank you too.”

She smiled softly back. “You’ve been a part of this little family for years. This has been a long time coming.” She winked. “I should be thanking you for waiting. I don’t think I’d be a part of this if you two had found each other a lot sooner.”

Craig reached out and tugged her close, kissing her soundly. “I wouldn’t change anything.” He twitched a smile and leaned up, leaving a soft kiss on Mitch’s lips. “This is perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pretty much the end if you were watching an episode. Plot wrapped up, fade to black. Gonna eventually write a porn epilogue but I'll make it it's own story, keep this kinda Baywatch-flow-like.


End file.
